Time-controlled damper.



PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906.

S. B. BROWN. TIME CONTROLLED DAMPER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN 30 1905 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' No. 808,896. PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906.

S. B. BROWN.

TIME CONTROLLED DAMPER.

APPILIGATIION FILED JAN. 30, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TIME-CONTROLLED DAMPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1906.

' Application filed January 30, 1905. Serial No. 243,263.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SILAs B. BROWN, acitizen of the United States,residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Time-ControlledDamper Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a time-controlled damper mechanism, the objectbeing to positively drop the released member, disconnecting it from theclock entirely, the construction being such that the resetting isaccomplished by simply picking up the released elevation.

member and suspending it from or engaging it with a releasing member.

The features of the invention are more fully set forth in thedescription of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation showing myimprovement attached to a clock. Fig. 2 is a side Fig. 3 is a rearelevation. Fig. 4 is a detailed plan view of a part of the internalclock mechanism. Fig. 5 is an elevation, partly in section, taken online m 00, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the invention appliedto a furnace-draft.

A represents the clock having the usual alarm mechanism.

a represents a shaft journaled in the clockcasing and having one endexposed, preferably at the rear of the clock, to which projected end isfixed a releasing member C, which is shown in its preferred form as aratchet-wheel. Within the clock-casing is mechanism of a conventionalnature for locking shaft a normally against rotation, but unlocking itat a predetermined hour to which the index is set. This interiormechanism is shown in Figs. 4: and 5, and preferably consists of thefollowing details. Upon the shaft a is a gear-wheel 6, meshing with thepinion c, fixed upon a shaft 6 is an escapement-wheel fixed on shaft d.

f is a fulcrum upon which is pivoted the rocking trip 9. This trip hasthe bent finger g and the straight finger g on one side of the fulcrum,while extended upon the other side of the fulcrum is the tripping-rod g(See Fig. 4.) it represents the shaft for setting the index-finger 2'.Upon shaft h is loosely mounted a sleeve carrying a gear-wheel Zr. Thesleeve 7' is provided with a beveled peripheral notch Z, terminating inan abrupt shoulder. The shaft it is provided with a pin m, adapted toengage into and out of the notch Z. At-

tached to the casing is a spring-latch a, the latch end of. which isadapted toengage over the rod 9 of the rocking trip g. The shaft passesthrough the spring-latch n, and this latch bears against a projectingend of the sleeve forcing the said sleeve normally away from the casingwhen the latch is disengaged, as shown in Fig. 5. 0 represents one ofthe train of gears of the regular clock mechanism which is intermeshedwith the gear-wheel 7c. The operation will be readily understood. Therotation of gear-wheel 70 engages the bevel of the notch Z with the pinon of the shaft 7L, thereby forcing the sleeve j inward on shaft /2 andengaging the latch-finger a over the trip-arm g in the position shown inFig. 3, in which position the escapement wheel 0 is locked againstrotation between the fingers g g of the rocker When the designated hourpresents the notch Z opposite the pin m, the spring a pushes the sleevej forward on shaft it, unlocking the trip-arm g and unlocking theescapement-wheel e. The weight of the released member will then causethe gear-wheels t 0 e to rotate, rocking the gear 9, which Will continueuntil the released member is dropped bodily from the clock. Thecontinued rotation of gear-wheel 70 will again engage the latch a withthe tripping-arm g This trip and escape mechanism is generallyunderstood; but in previous devices of this character it was customaryto suspend the member to be released upon a string which was woundaround the shaft a; but this arrangement necessitated the rewinding ofshaft (4 after each releasing operation. It also necessitated a specialconstruction of the case to permit the string to be inserted into theinterior of the clock. This construction and operation are open to manyobjections, which are entirely overcome by my improvement. With mydevice the weight of the released member is sus tained by the releasingmechanism, which is held normally rigid, except at the designated hour.There are several ways in which this releasing mechanism may be causedto support the weight of the released member; but the following is thepreferred form: D represents the released member, which is, in fact, achain, the lower end of which may be attached to the draft of a furnace,the switch of an electriclight system, or other mechanisms which are tobe turned off or on at a given hour. Pivoted to the side of the clock isa lever E, the front end of which extends in front of the clock andconstitutes support E, over which a link or ring of the chain isengaged. On the opposite side of the fulcrum the lever E extends to therear of the casing, and from the end is pivotally suspended a hook-pawlF, the end of which is adapted to engage into the teeth of theratchet-wheel C.

It is obvious that when the shaft (4 is unlocked the weight of thereleased member will strain the releasing mechanism, causing shaft a torotate until the ratchet-tooth of the releasing member 0 disengages thehook-pawl, when the lever E will fly upward, as shown in Fig. 2,disengaging the chain, which will drop. The weighted end of lever E whenthus freed of the chain will fall, causing the hookpawl to automaticallyengage into the teeth of the wheel C, and all that is necessary forresetting will be to lift the chain and suspend it over the front end ofthe lever E.

In Fig. 6 I have shown the preferred method of applying my inventionsayto a furnacedraft. The clock-casing has attached thereto a ring M,forming a sheave through which the chain D passes. One end of the chaincarries the weight N. The other end of the chain is attached to thedamper O of the furnace. A link of the chain between the sheave and theweight is suspended over the support E of the releasing mechanism withthe'draft closed, as shown in Fig. 6. At the set hour the chain will bedropped. The weight will drag the chain over the sheave, lifting thedamper 0. At night to reset the device'for a next operation it is onlynecessary to lift the weight, closing the damper, and engaging the linkof the chain over the support E.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. In a time-controlled dampermechanism, a clock, a lever lighter at one end than the other, a triggeron the lighter end of the lever adapted to support a weight, aclock-controlled ratchet-wheel on the rear of the casing under theheavier end of the lever adapted to be held normally against rotationand to be periodically released, and a pawl pivotally suspended from theheavier end of said lever adapted to automatically drop into engagementwith the teeth of said ratchet-wheel after the releasing operation,substantially as described.

2. In a time-controlled damper mechanism, a clock, a shaft extendedthrough the casing, clock-actuated mechanism within the casing adaptedto lock said shaft normally against rotation and to periodically releasethe same, a lever, a damper-controller adapted to be suspended on thelighter end of the lever, and devices on the heavier end of the leverand upon said shaft adapted to be automatically engaged after eachreleasing operation, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

SILAS B. BROWN. Witnesses:

OLIVER B. KAISER, LUISE BECK.

